Matrix: Renewal
by Nuyaviel
Summary: The brilliantly sinister Architect. Total loss of memory. The daunting world of the Matrix. Two humans who chose the truth. What happens when they all clash? Please read... you might even enjoy finding out! UPDATED. :)
1. the hell I'm helpless

CHAPTER ONE  
  
(the hell I'm helpless)  
  
Captured. Neo silently cursed himself for the hundredth time.  
  
The problem was, it was his own stupidity which had led to this. Normally he could keep his cool in any battle. Even when he was outnumbered, he could usually come up with a way out of the situation.  
  
But this time was different. This time, he had Trinity with him, and they were both unarmed. Not that Trinity couldn't hold her own in a battle. It was just that - she didn't have his skills.  
  
He glanced over at her, encased in an unbreakable glass tube, as he was. She was still unconscious.  
  
Neo stood straight and stiff, refusing to humiliate himself by pounding on the glass walls. Over a thousand robots surrounded them, all ready to kill him if so much as a finger left the security of the glass cage. He couldn't escape without Trinity, but escape was impossible if he had to carry Trinity and protect her while she was unconscious.  
  
He had to wait for her to wake up. Then they could formulate a plan. It had already been almost an hour since he had first opened his eyes and found himself here, in this nightmare.  
  
Neo still wasn't sure what exactly had happened. Morpheus had made sure that Zion was completely System-free. But somehow they had been infiltrated. He remembered with cold horror how a trusted member of the population had knocked innocently on his door. Trinity was with him inside the room, and they let the 'human' in . . . before they could even ask what was wrong, the morphing process was over and a leader of the System stood before them.  
  
How had he and Trinity been captured? Neo was the One. He could take care of himself, and a few hundred others.  
  
He couldn't remember. He hated it. But right now it was irrelevant. All he wanted was for Trinity to wake up so that they could get out of here.  
  
Then suddenly, the throng of robots parted. An old man with white hair and a white beard, dressed in an impeccable white robe, made his way down the line of robots until he was standing in front of Neo.  
  
Neo's face was implacable. He recognized the brilliant eyes, the slight, mocking sneer. It was the Architect, the designer of the Matrix, the mastermind behind everything.  
  
"Do you know why you're here, Neo?" the Architect asked.  
  
Neo didn't answer the question. He stared hard into the eyes of the other man. "What are you going to do to us?"  
  
"You didn't answer my question," the Architect noted calmly.  
  
"Answer mine." Neo's short sentence was an order.  
  
The Architect almost seemed to smile. "Are we clear on which of us is captured and helpless?"  
  
"The hell I'm helpless," Neo answered coolly.  
  
"The girl is." The Architect nodded at Trinity, a gesture that was nearly imperceptible. "She does not comprehend the computer codes that control the Matrix and everything in it. She does not have the power or the skills of The One. She has no weapons, and she is unconscious."  
  
Neo's teeth clenched, but no one looking at him would have guessed by the expressionless look on his face.  
  
"Not even you, Neo, can get her out of here alive," the Architect observed tranquilly. "Yet you will not leave without her."  
  
The Architect was right, but hell would freeze over before Neo admitted it. His impassive façade broke, and he nearly sneered at the Architect. "Listen, I'm sure you already know what will happen, how it will happen, when it will happen. Destiny, right? Fate. The irrevocable law of nature. We don't really have choices. It is an illusion created by those with power. All that crap. Now you just have to let me in on the future."  
  
The Architect raised an eyebrow. "Very well. You and the girl will have your memories wiped, and you will be deposited in the Matrix. It will happen; it is destined. I would advise you not to fight it."  
  
"I am the One. The people of Zion will find me, and my memory will be restored. And when that happens, I will look for Trinity." Neo's tone implied suppressed triumph. "I will find her. And you know it."  
  
This time the Architect smiled for real. "The people of Zion will not find you."  
  
Neo knew he was being baited, but he asked anyway. "Why not?"  
  
"Zion has been infiltrated by a power you cannot even begin to imagine. Don't you remember? You are the One, and yet you were defeated and captured."  
  
Neo's blood ran cold.  
  
"Would you like to know why I'm not just eradicating you?" The Architect could be a jolly grandfather from the Matrix, except for the immaculate clothes, the intellect in his eyes, the desire for perfection that practically emanated from him . . .  
  
"Would it help me out of this?" Neo asked, unable to help it.  
  
"No. If the One is eliminated, then another one rises. It cannot be helped. It is an immutable flaw of the Matrix, another bar to the perfection that I will someday achieve. But not now. Now, you must be kept alive, or another will rise, perhaps greater than you. He will be the One. And he might be able to save Zion."  
  
Neo was tempted to just kill himself. If the Architect was right, then another man would emerge. He would be the One, and he might be able to save Zion. He doubted Morpheus could. He doubted Morpheus even knew that he and Trinity had been captured.  
  
But he couldn't commit suicide. There was only one reason. Trinity.  
  
Neo suspected that the Architect was well aware of that, and had kept Trinity unconscious on purpose. Damn his soul . . . if he even had one.  
  
The Architect turned and left. Neo feared that if he blasted his way out of the glass cage, the robots would swarm him before he could reach Trinity, perhaps hurt her before he could protect her. So he faced her unconscious form and started pounding loudly on his glass tube, no longer caring for his humiliation at the futility of it all. Perhaps it wasn't futile. Perhaps Trinity would wake up. Perhaps they could still escape . . .  
  
Then a sudden cloud of blue smoke rose up in Neo's tube, engulfing him in a matter of seconds. He fought against inhaling it for as long as he could, until he glimpsed Trinity's tube. She wasn't there anymore.  
  
Neo's eyes became wet with tears, whether from the gas or the loss of Trinity, he wasn't sure. He no longer cared. He knew that he and Trinity wouldn't remember each other, and that a great distance would separate them in the Matrix.  
  
He gave in to the azure smoke, the fog that was a product of endless, perfect formulas devised by the Architect's genius.  
  
Neo was floating, floating, in an infinite sea of black . . .  
  
Welcome to the Matrix, he thought irrationally, considering his situation, before he lost consciousness. 


	2. seriously irritated

CHAPTER TWO  
  
(seriously irritated)  
  
This isn't my old life, Neo thought. The Architect didn't tell me that I wouldn't have my old life back.  
  
Then he blinked, confused. What was he thinking? He didn't know any architects. And this life had been his life as far back as he could remember.  
  
Neo sat up in his bed. Why wasn't anyone beside him? Trinity . . .  
  
He frowned. Who was Trinity? And why would anyone be beside him on the bed? He didn't have a girlfriend, and he disliked one-night stands.  
  
He looked around his room. White floor. Wooden floor. Two windows. A television. A blue bed. A cabinet. A table. A few chairs.  
  
But what caught his attention most was the computer. It was turned off, but Neo could almost see infinite strings of green computer data trailing down the black screen.  
  
Neo shook his head, trying to clear it. Computer data? He knew how to type a document and print it. He knew how to make a PowerPoint presentation. He could navigate the Internet fairly well. He had mastered more than a few computer games. But that was pretty much it.  
  
He laughed at himself. Poor Neo, searching for his 'old' life, hunting for someone beside him on the bed, pretending that he was a computer genius.  
  
He stood up and stretched, still smiling. Then he started to head for the bathroom.  
  
Where is the bathroom? Neo thought, halting in mid-step.  
  
The small door just beside the door to this room, he answered himself. His smile disappeared.  
  
What was WRONG with him today?  
  
* * *  
  
Trinity opened her eyes and sat up abruptly, her arms tensed in front of her in a pose of self-defense.  
  
She thought to herself, Where am I?  
  
Her next thought was, Have I been attacked?  
  
Then Trinity rolled her eyes at herself. Sometimes she could be such a dweeb. She was in her room, and no one was attacking her. "So you can drop the karate now," she said aloud to herself, shaking her head at the ridiculous way she had woken up.  
  
She heaved herself up on her elbows and took in the room. The furnishings were unfamiliar, although suited to her tastes. Matching curtains and bedspread, a carpet and wallpaper, a television and a computer -  
  
She stared intently at the computer. I wish Neo was here, she thought.  
  
All right, snap out of it! she scolded herself mentally. Why would the furnishings be unfamiliar? She had picked them out herself. And who the bloody hell was Neo?  
  
Trinity swung her legs out over the edge of the bed and stood up. Maybe I'll have breakfast, she thought, yawning. She rubbed her eyes and left the room.  
  
She stopped. Where did she eat her breakfast?  
  
Go downstairs, then turn right to get to the kitchen, she answered herself. She scowled.  
  
What was WRONG with her today?  
  
* * *  
  
Neo was unaware of it, but he had been wrong. The Architect hadn't placed him and Trinity on opposite ends of the globe. In fact, in the Matrix, they were only a train ride away from each other.  
  
But neither of them knew that - or each other.  
  
For the rest of the day, both Trinity and Neo were seriously irritated with themselves for forgetting the most basic things about their life, and conjuring up strange memories that had no basis whatsoever.  
  
Neo thought Zion was a fantasy place he had read about in his childhood.  
  
Trinity thought Zion was a tiny village in some godforsaken corner of the globe that someone she knew had visited.  
  
By the next day, the confusion of their deportation to the Matrix had worn off. Not knowing that their real bodies lay unmoving in the real world, they went about with their 'daily' lives.  
  
Somewhere in Zion, Morpheus was raising hell, cussing up a storm, and sending out troops to look for Neo and Trinity.  
  
So far, he had had no luck. 


	3. completely unaware of the chaos

DISCLAIMER: I forgot to put this down earlier. anyway, obviously none of the characters are mine. They all come from the movie trilogy Matrix. Only the plot and the characters you don't recognize are mine.  
  
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CHAPTER THREE  
  
(completely unaware of the chaos)  
  
"Sir, if you could sign these," a secretary said breathlessly, shoving a stack of papers at Neo. "They're needed at noon."  
  
"Thank you - er - " Neo paused to rack his memory - "Linda. Come back for them in an hour."  
  
"Nelda. Yes, Sir Manville." Nelda, looking slightly affronted, turned and left the office.  
  
Neo Manville. At first the name had been unfamiliar to him; but now, mere days after the Architect had wiped his memory and left him stranded in the Matrix, he felt like it had been his name all his life.  
  
Neo was unaware of it, but the Architect had thought of everything. He entered the Matrix on a Saturday, and he had gotten time to get acquainted with his apartment. On Sunday, an officemate had dropped by to congratulate him on his 'promotion' and remind him that he had received a packet containing his new work description. And on Monday, just before he was leaving for work (ecstatic about the promotion, but keeping it hidden under a cool façade - not even the Architect could wipe away all traces of the old Neo), a cleaning woman had shown up and chatted about how she felt so sorry for him, no parents, no wife, no children.  
  
Neo had been subtly informed of everything that was going on in his life.  
  
Now it was the weekend again, and he was scouring the streets for a pet shop. Feeling that his apartment was entirely too lonely, he had decided that he needed a dog.  
  
Finally he spotted one. 'ANIMAL HEAVEN (We sell over 50 species of dogs, cats, birds, mice, rabbits, snakes, and many more!).' He walked up to it and pushed the door open.  
  
Neo wrinkled his nose. The smells that assailed him were horrific. The dung of over 50 species of animals, he thought wryly.  
  
A tired-looking saleslady greeted him. "Are you looking for a pet, sir, or for stuff that your pet needs?"  
  
"I'm searching for a dog. Preferably not a puppy. Do you have one that won't tear down the house if I leave him alone everyday?" Neo asked. The saleslady thought about this for a moment, then led him to the dog cages.  
  
Half an hour later, Neo walked out of Animal Heaven with a little brown-and-white dog and a couple of bags of dog food, along with a dog-food- holder, or whatever they were called.  
  
He felt like the name he had chosen for his dog was perfect. It had just come to him from thin air. One moment the saleslady was putting the dog on a leash and asking him what he would name the male puppy, and the next moment he had seized upon one. "Morpheus."  
  
* * *  
  
Neo decided to take Morpheus to the park. A dog didn't get much exercise cooped up in a cage, and he would probably enjoy frolicking around for a while. The saleslady had assured him that Morpheus was a lively dog, but easy to calm down, and easy to train.  
  
Now, Neo was sitting on a bench strategically positioned under the shade of a tree with spreading branches, one hand holding Morpheus' leash, the other placed over his mouth to stifle his laughter. Morpheus barked and bounded around energetically, straining to get free. Neo would have taken him for a walk, but from his vantage point, he was watching somebody.  
  
A petite woman - she couldn't be more than 5'3 - was flat on her stomach on the wood-plank pier that led out over Magayon Lake, which the park was named after.  
  
She kept swiping furiously at her long ponytail, which threatened to brush the surface of the lake's waters, then stretching out her hand for something black, which floated just out of reach.  
  
Neo didn't find that particularly funny. What he was smiling at was the fact that the girl refused to ask for help. All she had to do was ask someone taller, and with longer arms, for assistance, but she insisted on doing it herself. She had been at it now for more than a few minutes.  
  
The woman pushed herself out a little further, and her ponytail swung into her way. She flung it over her shoulder furiously, and swiped at the black thing. It floated even further away. She almost fell off the pier.  
  
She suddenly stood up. Neo watched her in amused anticipation. Planting her hands on her hips, she marched over to a tree near the other end of the pier like a little sergeant and broke off a long branch. Then she headed back to the lake end of the pier. Squatting down, she reached out with the stick and began using it to maneuver the little black thing near her.  
  
Then her ponytail swung over her face again. She flipped it back, accidentally dropped the stick, and uttered a curse that was meant to singe the ears of whatever force of nature was behind her unluckiness. And clumsiness.  
  
The Architect, Neo thought. He was the 'force of nature' behind everything, and the woman couldn't help doing that because it was planned.  
  
He had no idea why he had thought of that. But by now he was used to his weird thoughts, and he quickly dismissed them. Standing up, he decided to help the poor woman. "Let's go, Morpheus," he told his dog. They began walking, or in the dog's case, trotting.  
  
As Neo drew closer, he gave a silent whistle of male appreciation. The woman was pretty. She was only wearing jeans and a thick red sweater, but it didn't hide her slender, willowy figure. Her hair was black, with only the slightest hint of copper, and gleamed in the sunlight. Her back was to him.  
  
When he reached her, she was tugging her hair out of the ponytail. He grinned to himself as her hair, which appeared to be waist-length, swung loose. He watched, a bit disappointed, as she pulled it up into a tight, secure bun. She didn't seem to notice him.  
  
Neo cleared his throat to announce his presence, holding Morpheus still. "Hey."  
  
She jumped, startled, and faced him. She had slanted, almond-shaped eyes in a rich mahogany color, which narrowed as she peered up him from beneath long, dark lashes. "What do you want?"  
  
He raised an eyebrow. He was more than half a foot taller than her, definitely more muscular, and she was glaring up at him as though willing to take him on.  
  
"Need some help?" Neo looked pointedly at the little black object which floated, now completely out of reach for her, in the water. Morpheus barked.  
  
The 'poor woman' gave him an equally pointed stare. "Are you offering it?"  
  
Neo shrugged, slightly discomfited. "Yes, if you want it."  
  
She looked at him. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm Neo Manville." He waited.  
  
She mirrored his earlier shrug. "I'm Lara."  
  
Neo took note of the fact that she hadn't given him a last name, but he let it pass. "What is it?" He gestured to the black thing.  
  
"My purse. It's waterproof, thank god, and it holds all I have - all I have saved for shopping," she corrected herself. She looked damned pleased with her quick save.  
  
Neo smiled indulgently, aware of her near slip, but willing to let her believe that she had caught herself in time. All she had, hmm? "We'll have to get it, then." He started moving past her to the end of the pier.  
  
To his surprise, she smiled back. "Thank you." Then she added, referring to her initial greeting, "I'm not usually so rude to strangers, you know."  
  
"Why am I the exception?"  
  
"You're too attractive," she said. And she meant it. Neo had a way about him which practically oozed self-assuredness, power, and poise. And he definitely looked good, with his chiseled features and lithe body.  
  
But Neo wasn't aware of her perception of him. So all he said was, "So are you."  
  
"Right," she snickered. Sarcastically she added, "That's why I've got men lining up to he - to ask me out."  
  
He ignored her second near-slip of the tongue. He told her, "I don't usually help strangers."  
  
"What does that make me?"  
  
"A stranger. But you're not usual." One corner of his mouth quirked upward in a small smile. "Because you're too attractive."  
  
She laughed. "Smooth talker. Enough of that. My purse has yet to be retrieved." But a faint blush stained her cheeks.  
  
Neo, smiling to himself, bent down and reached out for the purse.  
  
* * *  
  
Zion was in a state of panic. Even Morpheus had lost his cool. They couldn't find Neo or Trinity, and the robots were closing in on their city. The last stronghold of human resistance.  
  
"Where is the One?" everyone asked, some fearfully, some angrily.  
  
"I'm looking," Morpheus would answer loudly. "He'll come. If he isn't here, it's not of his own free will."  
  
Some accepted this. Some did not. At that point, Morpheus really didn't care. He just wanted to find Neo.  
  
The Council was divided as to whether or not they could afford to send out more troops, more ships, to search. In the end Morpheus decided the matter by sending them out without the Council's permission.  
  
They were incensed. But Morpheus just snapped, "We're desperate," and left.  
  
* * *  
  
Neo lay in his bed that night, completely unaware of the chaos his friends were going through in the real world, and thinking of Lara. She had left as soon as he got her purse for her.  
  
Morpheus padded around the room, sniffing loudly at all the things in it. It seemed they were all new to him.  
  
Neo glanced at his dog, then looked back at the ceiling. "Trinity," he said.  
  
He was confused. "What?" He frowned. He was losing it.  
  
He thought of captivating, slanted eyes, and of long dark hair.  
  
Then he went to sleep.  
  
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Trinity's story will come later. . . please review! 


	4. do his superman thing

CHAPTER FOUR

(_do his superman thing_)

            "Let's go over this again," Morpheus said. He sounded incredibly tired. "Neo and Trinity were last seen in Neo's room. They had retired for the night. Some of Zion's people within earshot of Neo's room claimed to have heard some thuds and shuffles, but they thought it was – ah – "

            "Neo and Trinity having sex," Niobe snorted. "You don't have to act like an old prude. Go on."

            Some of the exhaustion faded from Morpheus' eyes, replaced by annoyance. He shot Niobe a glare for that bit of wisdom. "Thanks. I can always count on your encouragement. Now, as I was saying, the people of Zion who were within earshot of Neo's room just thought that the unusual sounds were Neo and Trinity having intercourse – "

            Niobe and Link traded 'what-a-prude' glances, which the subject of the aforementioned glances chose to ignore. 

            " – so they didn't go to the authorities for help," Morpheus went on loudly. "And the next morning, when I went to tell Neo that the System had apparently speeded up the digging process to get to Zion, he wasn't there. His room was perfectly clean, though, so I wasn't worried. I went to Trinity to ask where Neo was, but she wasn't in her room either. Her room was also perfectly clean."

            Morpheus paused, then continued, "I still wasn't overly concerned. But when the two of them hadn't shown up hours later, I started asking questions. And that's when we realized that they were gone."

            There was silence for a moment.

            "Do you think he and Trinity left of their own free will?" Niobe asked.

            "No." Morpheus' response was calm and certain. "Neo knew that Zion was in trouble, as did Trinity. They wouldn't have left."

            "Maybe they got their memories wiped," Link offered. "Then the System deposited them in some godforsaken corner of the Matrix."

            Niobe rolled her eyes. She, Morpheus, and Link had been sitting still for over an hour now, bouncing off theories as to what had happened to Neo and Trinity off each other.

            "That's not possible," she said. "Neo is the One. He can defend himself from the System."

            Link shrugged. "You're assuming that he and Trinity were both in a position to defend themselves."

            "What do you mean?" Niobe demanded.

            Morpheus spoke. "I had considered that idea for myself, Link, but if that's what happened, it might be impossible to get them back. We have to consider other scenarios."

            "You're saying that perhaps they were unconscious when they left Zion, and kept unconscious when their memories were wiped, and remained unconscious until they woke up in the Matrix?" Niobe asked.

            Link nodded.

            "I have another scenario. Maybe the System infiltrated Zion, and right now we have a robot parading around pretending to be an innocent citizen. Maybe Neo and Trinity were captured, and are being tortured as we speak."

            Morpheus almost smiled. "Zion is completely System-proof, Niobe, you know that. And what would the robots have to gain by torturing Neo and Trinity?"

            Niobe relented. "You're right. But that mind-wiping scenario is so difficult to believe. Because if Neo and Trinity are in the Matrix, then their real bodies are in some System-protected area. We won't be able to penetrate easily. Maybe we won't be able to penetrate at all. And you can't find people in the Matrix, unless they want to be found. If Neo and Trinity don't remember us, why would they want us to find them?"

            "And besides, Neo can't do his superman thing if he can't even remember that he can do it," Link added.

            There was a silence. Link's gaze shifted to a portrait of the current Council Leader on the wall.

            "Morpheus, when this is over, the Council is going to fire you," Link announced helpfully.

            Morpheus snorted. "They're going to go down on their arthritic knees and thank me, because I did the right thing, and they damn well know it."

            "I'm siding with you, Morpheus, but you know how ornery the Council can get," Niobe said. "I wish I could have gone out to search for Neo."

            "If _you_ had gone, the Council would probably hand me over to the System as a human sacrifice," Morpheus muttered. "They think you're one of the few people who can actually defend Zion from the System."

            Niobe didn't know what to answer to that. There was another long silence.

            "Any other ideas?" Morpheus asked finally.

            "I have one," Link volunteered. "What if Zion _was_ infiltrated, and Neo and Trinity are dead?"

            Niobe and Morpheus spluttered.

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NOTE: Sorry this chapter was so short! Like I said, I'll be putting up Trinity's story soon . . . just wanted to let readers know what was up in Zion . . . I probably committed a ton of errors. My apologies. :-)

Please review!


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